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Now I know what you’re thinking dearest reader, ‘One of Shakespeare’s plays at the cinema?! What are they thinking?!!!’ Well, turns out that this brave move has paid off, at least for this humble writer. Now you may be unaware, but I’m an English Literature student, so seeing that some Shakespeare was to be on the big screen, I felt it my duty to go and watch it (even though I’m not a huge Shakespeare person!).

 

In terms of production value the film is fantastic, visually speaking as well as in its loyalty to the source material. The locations are unquestionably Scottish Highland-ey, sparse and rough, hung heavy with fog and the cry of battle; in this film the men are hard, the women harder. This leads me nicely to the casting in the film. As a Film4 production we see plenty of British actors; you might recognise Macduff as Sean Harris (an underrated actor in my book) who recently played the head of the Syndicate in ‘Mission Impossible Rogue Nation’, as well as Paddy Considine (Simon Pegg’s screen-fellow) playing Banquo. They play gritty characters, sombre and violent, perfectly set within the film (the dead stare of Banquo at the feast in particular is a chilling experience). Another famous face whom most will recognise is that of King Duncan, Remus Lupin himself, David Thewlis, is notable for his albeit momentary role as the Uncle and indeed first victim of the cruel Macbeth.

 

Speaking of cruel Macbeth, Michael Fassbender steps into the intimidating role; it’s funny that a half German-Irishman should play a Scot with such ease, but this simply serves to show his strength as an actor. We are introduced to Macbeth in battle, leading a battered looking force with mere boy soldiers, outnumbered against the traitorous Thane of Cawdor. This is a brutal scene punctuated by cut-throat (literally) slow motion effects to highlight the brutality of hand to hand combat, and indeed the warrior spirit of Macbeth. This strength is shown as only a shadow compared to the cruel determination of his devoted and power-hungry wife, played by Marion Cotillard (who played Talia Al-Ghul in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ as well as Mal in ‘Inception’), who is really the driving force of the plot of ‘Macbeth’. The dialogue between the two may be hard for some to follow, as the film follows the Shakespearean script to the letter (with only a few cuts) but in low gruff tones the growing conflict becomes clear. The ‘mind full of scorpions’ can clearly be seen in Fassbender’s emotional performance held in opposition to his cold and calculated wife; a fantastic pairing if you ask me. But dialogue alone maketh the film not…